June 18, 2013

Griffith Park Pterosaur Sightings

Two eyewitnesses have reported to me their sightings near Griffith Park in Los Angeles. The encounters were just a little east of that park, and over the same freeway.

I investigated the possibility that these two young ladies might have been playing a coordinated hoax, but the more I looked into the matter, the more it became apparent that it was only a coincidence that they were both young adult females driving north on the I-5 freeway in the first few months of 2013.

The similarities in the reports are as follows:

Gliding rather than flapping

Not bird misidentification

Over the Interstate-5

Just east of Griffith Park

Near the Los Angeles River

Reported to me as possible pterosaurs

Seen in reasonable lighting conditions (daylight)

The differences include the following:

Three "dragons" vs. one "pterosaur"

Long tails vs. unnoticed

Coloring somewhat different

Unnoticed vs. head crest

6:10 a.m. vs. about 4:00 p.m.

Gliding in different directions

Related Pterosaur Sightings in Southern California

Until just a few weeks ago, I did not see many related sighting locations in California, no clear proximity in location. The two sightings near Griffith Park were followed by a contact telling me about a second sighting at the Lakewood backyard, two years before the June-2012 encounter.

It now seems obvious that these apparent ropens do return to the same places, at least on occasion. The sightings continue to be mostly in daylight, when humans can see much better. I am still convinced that these modern pterosaurs are nocturnal, rarely coming out in daylight. But there are enough of the creatures (and plenty of humans) to make impressive appearances when they make rare flights in daylight. And a few of the shocked eyewitnesses have the courage and common sense to contact me with their reports of encounters in California. I'll keep praying that people will keep sending me their reports.

Right between the Los Angeles River and Griffith Park—that’s where the three “dragons” were flying on March 3, 2013, at 6:10 a.m., but another driver on the I-5 Freeway saw one “pterosaur” ten weeks later, just a little over a mile south of the first sighting location.